Pirates Notebook: Morton Not in the Same Place as Last Year

PITTSBURGH, Pa. -- Right-hander Charlie Morton has been struggling with leaving the ball up during the month of May. After posting a 2.65 ERA over his first three starts in April, Morton has a posted a 5.70 ERA after his eighth start of the season on Tuesday at PNC Park against Cincinnati.

"There were some sequences that weren’t sharp," Pirates Manager Clint Hurdle said. "It’s still I think repeating his delivery, trusting himself. He spun some balls that didn’t end up where he wanted them as well. Made some mistakes with his breaking ball... With Charlie, where we’re at right now, we’d like to have some continuity to some things…He’s not in the same place this year."

"I think the mistakes that I made, what hurt me weren’t sinkers really," Morton said. "I think that if I was being more aggressive with the sinker, results may have been different. I go back and look at what happened. Those pitches were up over the plate.
I think some of it is pitch selection, but the majority of i...